Jadon Sancho says he is grateful for the belief and advice of his Chelsea team-mates and coaching staff for helping him to score in back-to-back Premier League matches in the space of five days.
This time last week, Sancho was looking for his first goal since joining the Blues on loan from Manchester United. Now, he has two to his name, after finding the net in memorable wins over Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur.
The second of those came yesterday in our 4-3 derby victory in north London, and showcased the best of his talents, as the winger glided past defenders to carry the ball into danger and fire into the bottom corner off the base of the post.
Head coach [Enzo Maresca](/en/teams/profile/enzo-maresca) had spoken recently about wanting to see the 24-year-old pose more of a threat to goal, and it turns out he wasn’t the only one.
Discussing his crucial strike, Sancho said: ‘It was a one-v-one and I saw the opportunity to cut inside, then I saw the space opened up and just thought 'why not?'.
‘It’s definitely very satisfying. In training recently I’ve been working on my shooting a bit more, just working on hitting the far corner, so I’m delighted that it came off.
‘The staff and the players have been telling me to be a bit more selfish in front of goal and shoot when I get in those positions. I’ve been working on that, so I’m delighted.
‘I know I have a lot of people to prove wrong and I’m working hard every day in training. Once I get my opportunity I just try to show what I can do, so I’m happy that I scored and we got the three points for the team. I’m just taking it game-by-game and hopefully I can continue this form.’
His latest goal sparked our brilliant response following an early setback at Tottenham, and its significance was not lost on Sancho, even if he always believed the Blues had the quality to turn things around.
Sancho said: ‘Obviously going 2-0 down in the first half was not ideal, but I have a lot of trust in this squad so I wasn’t too fazed. Once we got our first goal I knew we would come back into the game and get a result.
‘Going in at half-time, the gaffer kept telling us that we’re still in the game and I have so much belief in the players, so I knew we would come back out firing.
‘Tottenham are very aggressive and we knew we would catch them if we broke the lines and beat their press. The gaffer told us in training to stay wide, especially the wingers, to create the one-v-one and the overlaps for two-v-one.
‘It was a great win, a great comeback, so I’m just happy we got the four goals and three points.’
Spurs took their lead by ruthlessly punishing a pair of slips by the unfortunate [Marc Cucurella](/en/teams/profile/marc-cucurella) on a greasy surface.
However, Sancho was quick to jump to his team-mate’s defence, believing he is one of the many talented players that makes this Blues squad so strong.
‘After the mistakes, I thought he played fantastic, he got himself back in the game,’ continued Sancho. ‘We believe in Cucu, he’s a great player for us, and we didn’t really think anything of it when he slipped, because we know how great he is as a player.
‘We’ve got so many talented players, in training it’s very hard, everyone’s competing. I feel like to have a strong squad like ours, to push each other every day in training, it’s fantastic because when we get results like this, it shows that we’ve earned it in training.
‘So I’m thankful that I’m here, grateful to the players and the staff for making me feel welcome, believing in me and giving me the opportunity to play.’